Method and apparatus for presenting a user interface

ABSTRACT

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a tablet adapted to detect a presence of another communication device with a display, determine operating characteristics of the display, create according to the operating characteristics of the display a first user interface (UI) portion to be presented by the display of the other communication device and a second UI portion to be presented by a touch-sensitive display of the tablet, transmit the first UI portion by way of the base unit using the wireless data protocol for presentation at the display of the other communication device, present the second UI portion at the touch-sensitive display of the tablet, and navigate between the first and second UI portions as a single UI of the tablet. Other embodiments are disclosed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to user interface techniquesand more specifically to a method and apparatus for presenting a userinterface.

BACKGROUND

Communication devices such as cordless phones, cellular phones andlaptop computers come with a display for presenting a graphical userinterface (GUI). The GUI can be accompanied by an input device such as akeypad and navigation system for manipulating functions of thecommunication device. Typically, the displays used by cordless andcellular phones are limited in size. As a result, the set of featuresavailable with these devices can sometimes be limited or nested due tothe size of the display and its resolution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-2 depict illustrative embodiments of communication systems thatprovide media services;

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a portal interacting withthe communication systems of FIGS. 1-2;

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication deviceutilized in the communication systems of FIGS. 1-2;

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method according to thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 6-8 depict illustrative embodiments of the method of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a device having atablet with a touch-sensitive display. A base unit can becommunicatively couplable to the tablet by way of a cordless phoneprotocol and a wireless data protocol to provide voice and datacommunication services to the tablet. The tablet can be adapted todetect a presence of another communication device with a display,determine operating characteristics of the display, create according tothe operating characteristics of the display a first user interface (UI)portion to be presented by the display of the other communication deviceand a second UI portion to be presented by the touch-sensitive displayof the tablet, transmit the first UI portion by way of the base unitusing the wireless data protocol for presentation at the display of theother communication device, present the second UI portion at thetouch-sensitive display of the tablet, and navigate between the firstand second UI portions as a single UI of the tablet.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure can entail acomputer-readable storage medium operating in a cordless phone havingcomputer instructions to detect another communication device with adisplay, create according to one or more operating characteristics ofthe display a first UI portion to be presented by the display of theother communication device and a second UI portion to be presented by adisplay of the cordless phone, transmit the first UI portion forpresentation at the display of the other communication device, presentthe second UI portion at the display of the cordless phone, and navigatebetween the first and second UI portions as a single UI.

Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a cordlessphone creating first and second UI portions according to operatingcharacteristics of a display of another communication device,transmitting the first UI portion for presentation at the display of theother communication device, presenting the second UI portion at adisplay of the cordless phone, and navigating between the first andsecond UI portions as one UI.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first communicationsystem 100 for delivering media content. The communication system 100can represent an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) broadcast mediasystem. The IPTV media system can include a super head-end office (SHO)110 with at least one super headend office server (SHS) 111 whichreceives media content from satellite and/or terrestrial communicationsystems. In the present context, media content can represent audiocontent, moving image content such as videos, still image content, orcombinations thereof. The SHS server 111 can forward packets associatedwith the media content to video head-end servers (VHS) 114 via a networkof video head-end offices (VHO) 112 according to a common multicastcommunication protocol.

The VHS 114 can distribute multimedia broadcast programs via an accessnetwork 118 to commercial and/or residential buildings 102 housing agateway 104 (such as a common residential or commercial gateway). Theaccess network 118 can represent a group of digital subscriber lineaccess multiplexers (DSLAMs) located in a central office or a servicearea interface that provide broadband services over optical links orcopper twisted pairs to buildings 102. The gateway 104 can use commoncommunication technology to distribute broadcast signals to mediaprocessors 106 such as Set-Top Boxes (STBs) which in turn presentbroadcast channels to media devices 108 such as computers or televisionsets managed in some instances by a media controller 107 (such as aninfrared or RF remote control).

The gateway 104, the media processors 106, and media devices 108 canutilize tethered interface technologies (such as coaxial or phone linewiring) or can operate over a common wireless access protocol. Withthese interfaces, unicast communications can be invoked between themedia processors 106 and subsystems of the IPTV media system forservices such as video-on-demand (VoD), browsing an electronicprogramming guide (EPG), or other infrastructure services.

Some of the network elements of the IPTV media system can be coupled toone or more computing devices 130 a portion of which can operate as aweb server for providing portal services over an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) network 132 to wireline media devices 108 or wirelesscommunication devices 116 by way of a wireless access base station 117operating according to common wireless access protocols such as WirelessFidelity (WiFi), or cellular communication technologies (such as GSM,CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, Software Defined Radio or SDR, and so on).

Another distinct portion of the one or more computing devices 130 can beused as a user interface (UI) adaptation system 130 (herein referred toas UI adaptation system 130) for storing and managing UI adaptations fora plurality of communication devices operating in communication system100. The UI adaptation system 130 will be further described in themethod of FIG. 5.

It will be appreciated by an artisan of ordinary skill in the art that asatellite broadcast television system can be used in place of the IPTVmedia system. In this embodiment, signals transmitted by a satellite 115supplying media content can be intercepted by a common satellite dishreceiver 131 coupled to the building 102. Modulated signals interceptedby the satellite dish receiver 131 can be submitted to the mediaprocessors 106 for generating broadcast channels which can be presentedat the media devices 108. The media processors 106 can be equipped witha broadband port to the ISP network 132 to enable infrastructureservices such as VoD and EPG described above.

In yet another embodiment, an analog or digital broadcast distributionsystem such as cable TV system 133 can be used in place of the IPTVmedia system described above. In this embodiment the cable TV system 133can provide Internet, telephony, and interactive media services.

It follows from the above illustrations that the present disclosure canapply to any present or future interactive media content services.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system 200employing an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network architecture tofacilitate the combined services of circuit-switched and packet-switchedsystems. Communication system 200 can be overlaid or operably coupledwith communication system 100 as another representative embodiment ofcommunication system 100.

Communication system 200 can comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)240, a tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) server 230, and other commonnetwork elements of an IMS network 250. The IMS network 250 canestablish communications between IMS compliant communication devices(CD) 201, 202, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) CDs 203, 205,and combinations thereof by way of a Media Gateway Control Function(MGCF) 220 coupled to a PSTN network 260.

IMS CDs 201, 202 can register with the IMS network 250 by contacting aProxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) which communicates with acorresponding Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) to register the CDs with at the HSS240. To initiate a communication session between CDs, an originating IMSCD 201 can submit a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP INVITE) message toan originating P-CSCF 204 which communicates with a correspondingoriginating S-CSCF 206. The originating S-CSCF 206 can submit queries tothe ENUM system 230 to translate an E.164 telephone number in the SIPINVITE to a SIP Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) if the terminatingcommunication device is IMS compliant.

The SIP URI can be used by an Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 207 to submita query to the HSS 240 to identify a terminating S-CSCF 214 associatedwith a terminating IMS CD such as reference 202. Once identified, theI-CSCF 207 can submit the SIP INVITE to the terminating S-CSCF 214. Theterminating S-CSCF 214 can then identify a terminating P-CSCF 216associated with the terminating CD 202. The P-CSCF 216 then signals theCD 202 to establish communications.

If the terminating communication device is instead a PSTN CD such asreferences 203 or 205, the ENUM system 230 can respond with anunsuccessful address resolution which can cause the originating S-CSCF206 to forward the call to the MGCF 220 via a Breakout Gateway ControlFunction (BGCF) 219. The MGCF 220 can then initiate the call to theterminating PSTN CD by common means over the PSTN network 260.

The aforementioned communication process is symmetrical. Accordingly,the terms “originating” and “terminating” in FIG. 2 are interchangeable.It is further noted that communication system 200 can be adapted tosupport video conferencing by way of common protocols such as H.323. Inaddition, communication system 200 can be adapted to provide the IMS CDs201, 203 the multimedia and Internet services of communication system100.

The UI adaptation system 130 of FIG. 1 can be operably coupled to thesecond communication system 200 for purposes similar to those describedabove.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a portal 302 which canoperate from the computing devices 130 described earlier ofcommunication 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. The portal 302 can be used formanaging services of communication systems 100-200. The portal 302 canbe accessed by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) with a common Internetbrowser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer™ using an Internet-capablecommunication device such as those described for FIGS. 1-2. The portal302 can be configured, for example, to access a media processor 106 andservices managed thereby such as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), a VoDcatalog, an EPG, a personal catalog (such as personal videos, pictures,audio recordings, etc.) stored in the media processor, provisioning IMSservices described earlier, provisioning Internet services, provisioningcellular phone services, and so on.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication device 400.Communication 400 can serve in whole or in part as an illustrativeembodiment of the communication devices of FIGS. 1-2. The communicationdevice 400 can comprise a wireline and/or wireless transceiver 402(herein transceiver 402), a user interface (UI) 404, a power supply 414,a location receiver 416, and a controller 406 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 402 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Digital EnhancedCordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellular communicationtechnologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologies can include,for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX,SDR, and next generation cellular wireless communication technologies asthey arise. The transceiver 402 can also be adapted to supportcircuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN),packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCPIP, VoIP,etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 404 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 408 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, joystick, mouse, ornavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device400. The keypad 408 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 400 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth. The keypad 408 canrepresent a numeric dialing keypad commonly used by phones, and/or aQwerty keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 404 can further include adisplay 410 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technologyfor conveying images to an end user of the communication device 400. Inan embodiment where the display 410 is touch-sensitive, a portion or allof the keypad 408 can be presented by way of the display.

The UI 404 can also include an audio system 412 that utilizes commonaudio technology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heardonly in the proximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such asspeakerphone for hands free operation). The audio system 412 can furtherinclude a microphone for receiving audible signals of an end user. TheUI 404 can further include an image sensor 413 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 414 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and charging system technologies for supplying energy tothe components of the communication device 400 to facilitate long-rangeor short-range portable applications. The location receiver 416 canutilize common location technology such as a global positioning system(GPS) receiver for identifying a location of the communication device100 based on signals generated by a constellation of GPS satellites,thereby facilitating common location services such as navigation. Thecontroller 406 can utilize computing technologies such as amicroprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and/or a videoprocessor with associated storage memory such a Flash, ROM, RAM, SRAM,DRAM or other storage technologies.

The communication device 400 can be adapted to perform the functions ofthe media processor 106, the media devices 108, or the portablecommunication devices 116 of FIG. 1, as well as the IMS CDs 201-202 andPSTN CDs 203-205 of FIG. 2. It will be appreciated that thecommunication device 400 can also represent other common devices thatcan operate in communication systems 100-200 of FIGS. 1-2 such as agaming console and a media player.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative method 500 for managing tasks. FIG. 6shows an illustrative embodiment of a block diagram 600 of communicationdevices operating according to method 500. Block diagram 600 comprises acommunication device 602 in the form of a tablet with a touch-sensitivedisplay (herein referred to as tablet 602). The tablet 602 can includecommunication technology to support both DECT and WiFi protocols. Thetablet 602 can be communicatively coupled to a base unit 606 by way ofDECT and WiFi air interfaces. A plurality of cordless handsets 604 canalso be communicatively coupled to the base unit 606 using the DECTprotocol.

The base unit 606 can include communication technology forcommunicatively interfacing to a PSTN, VoIP or IMS network such as thosedescribed earlier. The base unit 606 can also be coupled to anInternet/router modem 608 for communicatively interfacing to the portal302, a computer 116 or other communication devices accessible by way ofthe ISP network 132 of FIG. 1. The base unit 606 can provide thecordless handsets voice communication services, and the tablet 602 acombination of voice and data communication services. The tablet 602 andcordless handsets 604 can be equipped with common camera sensors 610(such as charged coupled device sensors) which can enable these devicesto support video communication services.

With the configuration of FIG. 6 in mind, method 500 can begin with step502 in which the tablet 602 presents a user a user interface (UI) 702such as shown in the illustration of FIG. 7. UI 702 can include aplurality of selectable tool bars 704 which represent different featuresof the tablet 602 (e.g., email, call logs, yellow pages browsing, and soon). In step 504, the tablet 602 can detect the presence of an STB 106.This step can be the result of the user indicating to the tablet 602 byway of depressing button 706 a desire to expand the UI with a display ofanother communication device in the vicinity of the tablet. In responseto this step, the tablet 602 can utilize its WiFi communicationresources to determine which other communication devices are on the WiFinetwork. This information can be provided by the base unit 601 or bycommon WiFi sniffing techniques. In response to detecting that the STB106 is on the WiFi network, it can prompt the user in step 506 for anacknowledgment that this is the communication device which the userwould like to use to expand the footprint of the UI 702 of FIG. 7.

It would be appreciated that the tablet 602 can also be programmed toautomatically scan the WiFi network for other communication deviceshaving a display which can be used to expand the UI capabilities of thetablet. When other communication devices such as the STB are detected,the tablet 602 can promptly respond to the depression of the expand UIbutton 706 with the query of step 506.

When the user accepts in step 508 a selection of the STB 106 from thequery presented in step 506 by way of a derivative of UI 702, the tablet602 proceeds to step 510. When the user rejects the STB 106 and/or anyother devices presented in the query of step 506, the tablet 602 can beprogrammed to return to step 502 where it continues to present the UI702 of FIG. 7. In step 510, the tablet 602 can be programmed todetermine the operating characteristics of the display 108 coupled tothe STB 106 shown in FIG. 8. The operating characteristics can includedisplay size, pixel resolution, color resolution, frame rate, contrastcapability, or any other suitable metric which can prove useful inadapting the UI 702 to a larger footprint.

In one embodiment, the operating characteristics of the display 108 canbe transmitted by the STB 106 to the tablet 602 by way of the base unit601. In another embodiment, the tablet 602 can receive from the STB 106a model and/or serial number of the vendor of the display 108 todetermine the operating characteristics by way of a third-party vendor(such as the manufacturer of the display accessible by way of the ISPnetwork 132) or by way of the UI adaptation system 130. Other methodsfor determining the operating characteristics of the display 108 arecontemplated by the present disclosure.

Once the operating characteristics of the display 108 are determined,the tablet 602 can proceed to step 512 where it identifies a UIadaptation technique according to the operating characteristics of thedisplay. The UI adaptation technique can instruct the tablet 602 in step514 how to create first and second UI portions to adapt the tablet 602to a two display set-up. Once the first and second UIs have beencreated, the tablet 602 can transmit to the STB 106 in step 516 the UI802 to be presented on the display 108, and in step 518 the tablet canpresent the other UI portion 804 on its display. The user of tablet 602can then navigate in step 520 between the first and second UIs 802, 804as a single UI with an expanded footprint. The user can navigate apointer 806 within the first UI 802 presented by the display 108 usingthe navigation function 805, or enter alphanumeric data by manipulatingthe Qwerty keyboard presented by the second UI 804.

The instructions provided in the UI adaptation technique can identifystructural features of the UIs 802, 804 to be presented in each display.The structural features can be described by GUI templates supplied bythe UI adaptation system 130 in step 512 for presentation at the display108 and the display of tablet 602, respectively. The GUI templates canhave a look and feel that can be similar or different from the UI 702.The UI adaptation technique can also identify additional operatingfeatures of the tablet 602 to be displayed in the first and second UIs802, 804, which were not present in the UI 702 when the tablet wasoperating independent of the STB 106 and display 108 combination.

The UI adaptation system 130 can utilize a common database that stores alist of possible third party display vendors and correspondingadaptation techniques to be used by the tablet 602. The database of theUI adaptation system 130 can be indexed by the operating characteristicsor a model and/or serial number of the display supplied by the STB 106,which the tablet 602 can convey to the UI adaptation system by way ofthe ISP network 132. The UI adaptations stored in UI adaptation system130 can be created by the service provider of the tablet 602 to adaptthe operating features of the tablet to a larger display footprint of aparticular display device.

Depending on the size of the display 108 coupled to the STB 106, the UIadaptation process used by the tablet 602 can result in the presentationof operating features not previously shown by the UI 702. Features ofthe tablet 602 that are commonly nested in several layers of the UI 702can be brought to a top layer when using the display 108 of FIG. 8. Forinstance, it can be customary for the tablet 602 to be programmed topresent UI 702 with taskbars without a Qwerty keyboard due to a lack ofdisplay area. However, with the split display set-up of FIG. 8, thetablet 602 can be directed according to the UI adaptation techniquesupplied by the UI adaptation system 130 to present a Qwerty keyboard804 on the display of the tablet, and the taskbars on the display 108.Accordingly, the expanded UI footprint provides the user a moreconvenient means to manipulate the UI of the tablet 602 which wouldotherwise take additional steps when the tablet is operatingindependently.

In step 522, the tablet 602 can also be programmed to detect a departurefrom the STB 106. This step can be detected by the user depressing the“Restore UI” button 808 on the display of the tablet 602. When thisbutton is depressed, the tablet 602 can automatically restore in step524 UI 702 as illustrated in FIG. 7.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below. Method 500 can be adapted so thatthe STB 106 provides the tablet 602 a subset of the area available onthe display 108. The subset can be defined by a given dimension andcoordinate supplied by the STB 106. In this manner, the STB 106 canreserve a portion of the display 108 for other presentations such as aTV program. Additionally, method 500 can be adapted so that it can beapplied to the handsets 604 to expand their UI footprint as well.Generally speaking, method 500 can be used by any pair of communicationdevices that can make use of an expandable UI.

In yet another embodiment, the functions of the UI adaptation system 130can be integrated in the communication device performing the UIexpansion process. In this embodiment, step 512 can be executed by thetablet 602 by retrieving the UI adaptation technique from its own memoryaccording to the operating characteristics determined in step 510.

Other suitable modifications can be applied to the present disclosurewithout departing from the scope of the claims below. Accordingly, thereader is directed to the claims section for a fuller understanding ofthe breadth and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 900 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed above. In some embodiments, the machine operatesas a standalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient user machine in server-client user network environment, or as apeer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a device of the present disclosure includes broadly anyelectronic device that provides voice, video or data communication.Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 900 may include a processor 902 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 904 and a static memory 906, which communicate with each othervia a bus 908. The computer system 900 may further include a videodisplay unit 910 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system900 may include an input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 916, a signal generationdevice 918 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 920.

The disk drive unit 916 may include a machine-readable medium 922 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 924)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions 924may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 904, the static memory 906, and/or within the processor 902during execution thereof by the computer system 900. The main memory 904and the processor 902 also may constitute machine-readable media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 924, or that which receives and executes instructions 924from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 926 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 926 using the instructions 924. Theinstructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over a network926 via the network interface device 920.

While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memorycard or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile)memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile)memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape;and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives is considered a distributionmedium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, thedisclosure is considered to include any one or more of amachine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separately claimed subject matter.

1. A device, comprising: a tablet with a touch-sensitive display,wherein a base unit is communicatively couplable to the tablet by way ofa cordless phone protocol and a wireless data protocol to provide voiceand data communication services to the tablet, and wherein the tablet isadapted to: detect a presence of another communication device with adisplay; determine operating characteristics of the display; createaccording to the operating characteristics of the display a first userinterface (UI) portion to be presented by the display of the othercommunication device and a second UI portion to be presented by thetouch-sensitive display of the tablet; transmit the first UI portion byway of the base unit using the wireless data protocol for presentationat the display of the other communication device; present the second UIportion at the touch-sensitive display of the tablet; and navigatebetween the first and second UI portions as a single UI of the tablet.2. The device of claim 1, wherein the other communication deviceoperates independently of the device, and wherein the first and secondUI portions correspond to an expansion of a UI presented exclusively bythe touch-sensitive display of the tablet when not assisted by the othercommunication device.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the controlleris adapted to: identify a UI adaptation according to the operatingcharacteristics of the display of the other communication device; andcreating the first and second UI portions according to the UIadaptation.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the UI adaptation includesone or more features not present in the UI exclusively presented by thetablet.
 5. The device of claim 3, wherein the controller is adapted toretrieve from a system communicatively coupled to the base unit the UIadaptation according to the operating characteristics of the display. 6.The device of claim 5, wherein the system corresponds to a database ofUI adaptations for a corresponding plurality of communication devices.7. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to: detect adeparture from the presence of the other communication device; andrestore a presentation of an original UI used by the tablet when notcommunicatively coupled to the other communication device.
 8. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the other communication device corresponds to one ofa set-top box (STB) and a computer.
 9. The device of claim 1, whereincordless phone protocol corresponds to a Digital Enhanced CordlessTelecommunications (DECT) protocol, and wherein the data communicationsprotocol corresponds to a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) protocol.
 10. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the first UI portion includes one or moreviews supplied by one or more corresponding webcams.
 11. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the base unit is coupled to at least one of an InternetProtocol Television (IPTV) communication system, an interactive cable TVcommunication system, an interactive satellite TV communication system,and an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) communication system.
 12. Acomputer-readable storage medium operating in a cordless phone,comprising computer instructions to: detect another communication devicewith a display; create according to one or more operatingcharacteristics of the display a first user interface (UI) portion to bepresented by the display of the other communication device and a secondUI portion to be presented by a display of the cordless phone; transmitthe first UI portion for presentation at the display of the othercommunication device; present the second UI portion at the display ofthe cordless phone; and navigate between the first and second UIportions as a single UI.
 13. The storage medium of claim 12, wherein thecordless phone is communicatively coupled to the other communicationdevice according to one of a Digital Enhanced CordlessTelecommunications (DECT) protocol, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) protocol,and a Bluetooth protocol.
 14. The storage medium of claim 12, whereinthe cordless phone is communicatively coupled to the other communicationdevice by way of a base unit according to a cordless phone protocol anda wireless data protocol to provide voice and data communicationservices to the cordless phone.
 15. The storage medium of claim 14,wherein the cordless phone corresponds to a tablet with atouch-sensitive display for managing the first and second UI portions.16. The storage medium of claim 12, comprising computer instructions to:identify a UI adaptation according to the operating characteristics ofthe display of the other communication device; and create the first andsecond UI portions according to the UI adaptation.
 17. The storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the first and second UI portions correspondto an expansion of a UI presented exclusively by the display of thecordless phone when not assisted by the other communication device, andwherein the UI adaptation includes one or more features not present inthe UI exclusively presented by the cordless phone.
 18. The storagemedium of claim 16, comprising computer instructions to retrieve from asystem communicatively coupled to the base unit the UI adaptationaccording to the operating characteristics of the display.
 19. Thestorage medium of claim 18, wherein the system corresponds to a databaseof UI adaptations.
 20. The storage medium of claim 12, comprisingcomputer instructions to receive the operating characteristics from theother communication device or a system communicatively coupled to thecordless phone.
 21. In a cordless phone, a method, comprising: creatingfirst and second user interface (UI) portions according to operatingcharacteristics of a display of another communication device;transmitting the first UI portion for presentation at the display of theother communication device; presenting the second UI portion at adisplay of the cordless phone; and navigating between the first andsecond UI portions as one UI.
 22. The method of claim 21, comprising:receiving from the other communication device operating information forusing a subset of an area of the display of the other communicationdevice; and transmitting the first UI portion to the other communicationdevice for presentation in said subset.
 23. The method of claim 21,wherein the cordless phone corresponds to a tablet with atouch-sensitive display for managing the first and second UI portions,and wherein the other communication device corresponds to a set-top boxcommunicatively coupled to a television display.
 24. The method of claim21, comprising: identifying a UI adaptation according to the operatingcharacteristics of the display of the other communication device; andcreating the first and second UI portions according to the UIadaptation.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first and second UIportions correspond to an expansion of a UI presented exclusively by thedisplay of the cordless phone when not assisted by the othercommunication device, and wherein the UI adaptation includes one or morefeatures not present in the UI exclusively presented by the cordlessphone.